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Day 1 - The Sunless Sea

Time moves at its own pace down here - it seems fitting to leave the dates of the surface world behind and simply start numbering the days (if that term has any meaning in a place where the sun is never seen) from our arrival here. We (more of my companions in a moment) are traveling on a ship which I am told is of Drow design (the Drow being merely the first in what I'm sure will be a long list of creatures I once thought mythical but now have a distressingly high likelihood of meeting face-to-face). The Underdark is well-named - I expect it will not be long before my eyes become as useless as those of the fish which pass by our craft. The Sunless Sea (another apt name) is far larger than I would have imagined an underground body of water could be.

How did I get here? Its hard for me to comprehend - this is my first chance to reflect on the activities of the last few days, and I hope that keeping this record of my travels will help me make sense of it all. Probably the best place to start is three days ago in my home village of Galen's Ford (three days only? it seems much longer - almost a different lifetime) when I received a mysterious letter, delivered by a messenger who left before I could question him. The note itself was from someone calling himself Kreon Gath, a name I had never heard before. He requested that I meet him at a flour mill (this did not bode well) in the village of Arveston, for some purpose which he did not see fit to reveal. It is perhaps a measure of how anxious I was to take my leave of Galen's Ford that I seized upon such a flimsy excuse, but the life of a village brewer was never going to be for me, no matter how much my father might have wished it so.

I packed my spellbook and other possessions, accepted the traveling money my mother pressed into my hand (my parents are good people, if somewhat limited in their horizons), and bade farewell to the town I had called home with no real regrets. I did pause as I passed the barracks of the town garrison to call down one last curse upon them - if only my curses carried any real power. A pox upon all soldiers - they are a plague upon the land.

But I digress. I reached Arveston, which is a pustule of a village even less impressive than Galen's Ford (something I would not have thought possible), after a journey of some two cold and windy days. The flour mill was easy to find, and my knock and request for Kreon Gath was answered by an old woman who stared at me, and then led me to what looked like a bare wall. She pressed or pulled or moved something (I could not tell exactly), and a portion of the wall opened to reveal a hidden room. Feeling somewhat more intrigued, I passed through the door into the room, where a dozen or so others had already gathered. It was a strange mix of people - some appeared to be warriors, while others looked like they had never held a weapon of any kind. At least one was clearly a priest of some sort.

Looking at the faces of those in the room, I took special notice of an older man with a black and gray beard. He had the look of one familiar with the arcane arts, and a commanding air about him that made me suspect he was Kreon, the one who had sent me (and, I assumed, the rest of us) the message. This guess of mine was validated when he called the group to order and explained why we had been summoned.

I shall not bother to record his exact words here - suffice it to say that he went on at great length about a coming war instigated by the cult of Hextor, and a prophecy of some sort that states that an individual or group of individuals would defeat the Hextorians in this war. The Hextorians believe this prophecy and are searching for those of whom the prophecy speaks, to destroy them before the war starts. If all this were not foolish enough, Kreon stated that some number of those of us he had gathered in that room were the ones the Hextorians were searching for - it wasn't clear which one or ones it was. Unsurprisingly, the omens were somewhat vague, as omens tend to be.

While the notion of a coming war was all too plausible, all this talk of prophecy was, of course, utter nonsense. A simple glance around the room made that clear - this group hardly looked capable of saving the world. I have no doubt that I am meant for greater things than brewing beer, but I am not so foolish as to think I am meant to stop a war and defeat a cult, and I was far more credible in that role than any of the rest of them.

Kreon (who is a member of some group called the Order of the Tempered Light) made it clear that he and his group didn't actually believe this prophecy either (so at least they have some sense), but since the Hextorians did, we were in danger regardless of the prophecy's validity, and I had to admit he had a point. He said that this Order was prepared to take us to a secret location, to be kept safe from the cultists, who would be unlikely to start their war until they had eliminated their potential nemesis.

There were those in our group who showed little enthusiasm for being thus spirited away for some undetermined length of time, but eventually they were persuaded (it took the promise of some monetary compensation to persuade the more mercenary of the group). For myself, it sounded more intriguing than any other option I might have had, and I hoped to persuade Kreon (clearly a mage of some power) to teach me some of what he knew while we waited in the Order's fortress, which would hopefully prove sufficient recompense for having to spend my time with this less than impressive group.

Only then did Kreon name our destination - the Underdark. There was quite a bit of renewed complaining at this point, but Kreon, I think, had had enough of it, and he silenced everyone with some rather harsh (but deserved, I thought) words. I knew little of the Underdark except for the name, of course, but a visit there seemed sure to prove interesting at the very least.

We were fed (a better meal than I had expected) and split into two groups - one (my group) would travel with Kreon, while the other would go with a woman named Tara. Expecting to get some sleep and depart in the morning, we were all surprised when Kreon muttered some incantation and we instantly found ourselves no longer in the mill, but in a sizeable and humid cavern, illuminated overhead with a purple-reddish light that seemed to dance and swirl around. I found it most interesting, if a bit disorienting. I was not pleased, however, that we had not been given time to prepare for our journey - a few torches, at the very least, would have been nice to have (I can create light if needed, but only for a brief period).

Kreon told us this place was called an earthnode, which was a place where something called earthblood was particularly focused. He was maddeningly vague about the whole thing, but it sounds powerful, and I plan to bend his ear about it on our journey.

We traveled a short distance, to the edge of a vast expanse of water (the Sunless Sea, we were told). There, waiting for us, was the ship we are now on, a strange and wondrous craft, like a galley, but with wing-like structures jutting out from either side. There were several oars sticking out from the sides as well, which seemed a mundane mode of propulsion for such a ship. We learned later that the oars were manned by kobolds, which are nasty little reptilian creatures. Kreon apparently has them under some sort of magical compulsion, which keeps them rowing instead of trying to eat us.

Kreon's two children were on board the ship as well, as well as an oddity (even in this place) - a woman in some sort of glass box or coffin, kept in the hold. At first I assumed she was dead, but the slow rise and fall of her chest made it clear she was merely...sleeping? I have no idea. Whedan (Kreon's son) told us her name (Artera), but Kreon himself would say nothing else about her.

We soon set off, with Kreon at the rudder (how he is navigating the gods only know) and the kobolds rowing steadily, and left the shore of this sea behind us. All around us is blackness, broken only by the light of the lanterns mounted on the ship (including one on the prow which does not seem to need refilling with oil - yet another thing I must ask Kreon about).

I realize I have not yet written of my companions, but as I am feeling weary, I will assume that it is night and try to get some sleep. We have a journey of several days ahead of us, according to Kreon, so there will be plenty of time for writing.

Day 4 - The Sunless Sea

Our situation has changed drastically, and not for the better. We were traveling along much the same as we had been for the past few days. Suddenly there was a shimmering near the bow of the boat, and then another (and one right behind me near the stern as well, although I did not see it at the time), and then three creatures appeared where the shimmering had been. It was clear that they were illithids, based on what Kreon had told us - the pale eyes and writhing tentacles on their chins were enough to identify them. Before I could react, a strange feeling came over my mind, a confusing babbling of thoughts - I lost all consciousness of my surroundings.

When my mind cleared (I have no idea how long I was overcome) I found myself standing exactly where I had been. I could see my shipmates coming to in a similar manner. The illithid behind me was gone, as was one of the ones at the bow. The other was a charred corpse. Circling the boat was a flaming shape of some sort - it appeared to be a fist. Two dead kobolds lay at the bow as well, at the top of the stairs leading down into the hold.

More unfortunately for us, when I glanced to my right I saw the crumpled form of Kreon in a pool of blood. His children (who it seems had been affected as I had) were just coming around and appeared in a state of shock. I assumed at first that Kreon had created the flaming fist during the battle which had clearly just happened, but upon studying it further it did not seem to me to be his type of magic. I looked around for someone else who might have cast it, but saw no one.

Ard quickly ascertained that Kreon was indeed dead, but before I could start to think about what that meant to our voyage, Ravenna pointed to the steps at the bow, and strode forward towards them. At first I thought she meant to examine the bodies of the kobolds, but in the next moment a large hairy creature with a wicked-looking mace in one hand and a scarcely less wicked-looking hammer in the other charged up the steps. It was clearly injured, but not injured enough for my tastes. Ravenna, startled at the size of the creature, retreated towards the stern.

Enzo and Aesa stepped forward to engage the creature (I believe that it was what is known as a bugbear), but swung wildly at first. The flaming fist circled over the boat, and then dissipated into the air. Ignoring that for the time being, I prepared my mind and stepped forward, unleashing a bolt of energy from my hand and praying to Boccob that the traveling mage who had taught me this bit of magic had taught me well. Thankfully he had, as my bolt struck true, drawing a roar of pain from the creature. To my left I saw Katalla pull Ard's mace from his belt and hold it with hands that shook with fear.

The creature landed a sold blow with his hammer on Aesa - she grimaced with pain but did not falter, cursing the bugbear and his lineage in a most impressive manner. Ravenna shot at the monster with her crossbow, but to no effect - it was a difficult shot, as she had to avoid hitting our warriors.

The battle continued - the creature kept landing blow after blow on Aesa (she and Enzo landed a few good ones of their own), and although Ard was able to heal some of her wounds, she finally collapsed from the punishment the bugbear had inflicted on her (she was still breathing, thankfully). At one point the creature called on us to surrender, and to take the ship to "the Masters", which did not sound like an appealing option at all. I am proud to say I did honor to my teachers, with several of my bolts striking the creature, but it would not fall. Ard called upon the power of his god to provide guidance to Ravenna's crossbow bolts and my magic ones. This apparently worked, as I then found it easier to guide my bolts to the target.

Having no luck with her crossbow, Ravenna descended the steps at the stern of the ship, hoping to flank the creature and strike at it from behind. However, she was greeted by the distressing sight of the kobold rowers, who apparently had been freed from Kreons mental control upon his death. They were still groggy, but seemed to be gathering what wits they possessed. Ravenna ran back up the steps, warning us of this new complication.

At this point Kreon's son Whedan seemed to recover from whatever shock he had been suffering - he drew the dagger from his father's belt and charged at the bugbear, screaming that the bugbear had killed his father. Stepping over Aesa's fallen body, he stabbed furiously at the bugbear, almost striking him. The boy showed more courage than judgment, and I feared one swing of the creature's hammer would send him to join his father.

Luckily Enzo was able to fell the creature with a blow of his sword, while Ard stabilized Aesa. I turned back to the stern to see Katalla standing at the top of the stairs, mace in hand, speaking in a soothing tone to what I assumed were the massing kobolds. Fearing the worst, I stepped to her side to see several pairs of beady eyes staring up at me. I tried frantically to remember how many kobolds there were on the ship (minus the two dead) and came up with a distressingly high number of around fourteen. One of the kobolds, who apparently spoke the common tongue, asked, "Where is our friend?" I thought at first it meant the bugbear, but quickly determined it was speaking of Kreon. It then asked for food - fresh food.

Quickly, before it could start thinking about how fresh I was, I gestured to my companions to push the bugbear down the bow stairs. After grabbing the weapons and the coin pouch the creature was carrying, Ard and Enzo kicked the corpse into the hold. Between Ravenna, Katalla, and I, we were able to convince the kobolds to go to the bow, where they found the corpse of the bugbear and tore into it with a sickening relish. Having bought some time, we gathered to determine what to do next.

We quickly determined that we had two related problems to address. The first was the kobolds. We needed them to power the ship, but we had no way (that we could determine) to exert the same control over them that Kreon had. We thought it unlikely that they would help us out of the kindness of their hearts - clearly some negotiations were in order. The second problem was where to go, but until we could resolve the kobold situation it did not seem to matter. Ravenna, Katalla, and myself, having established some contact with the creatures, were appointed to continue talking with them. Aesa, back on her feet with some help from Ard, went to the storage hold to determine what supplies we had, while Ard and Enzo stayed up top to watch the children and keep an eye out for any other hostile creatures.

Before undertaking this plan, we searched the bodies, both of our enemies (we had the coin pouch from the bugbear and its mace, which I determined was enchanted and which the priest took, while the remaining illithid had a coin pouch of his own, a wand that I could not identify, and a short sword which I quickly determined was enchanted, but linked to the illithids somehow, such that even holding it was mentally draining for me - the cleric (somewhat rashly, I thought) dropped it into the sea, along with its former owner), and somewhat more reverently, Kreon. Apart from some more mundane items which seemed likely to be useful (two sunrods, some tindertwigs, and a vial labeled antitoxin), we (or I, more accurately) appropriated his staff (which will require further study on my part), another wand I which I could not identify, a scroll containing a spell far beyond my abilities, a cloak clasp he wore (I was able to determine that by placing some of my own arcane power into the clasp, it would improve the efficacy of spells I cast for the rest of the day - a useful item to be sure), and a plain gold ring. Upon donning the ring, a most peculiar thing happened. I heard a voice inside my head, speaking in a language I could understand, but using some words unfamiliar to me (I do not know what a "jeezuz kryst" is). The owner of the voice seemed to be unhappy at the fact that another wizard had donned the ring (not out of loyalty to Kreon, it seemed, but out of boredom). When I attempted to assert control over the ring (I admit I was perhaps a bit undiplomatic), it fell silent. Obviously this ring is worth further study - I hope to be able to gain its...friendship? cooperation? for myself, but I may have to enlist one of my shipmates if it will not speak to me. For now I kept the ring on my hand, and the fact that it could communicate to myself.

Ravenna took the lead in our talk with the kobolds at first, who appeared to be at least temporarily sated by the meal they had made of the bugbear. The one who spoke the common tongue, whose name appeared to be either Drik or Drek (the former is probably correct, while the latter is possibly more apt) made it very clear that his people were done being slaves. Ravenna took a more friendly tone than I thought likely to produce results - I felt that a more forceful tone (stressing both the benefits of cooperating and the consequences of fighting us) would probably work better (Aesa suggested quietly that we just start killing one every minute until the others cooperated, which I thought a bit over the top and not conducive to our goal of moving the ship - I freely admit she scares me a little) and I therefore took over the negotiations.

Without getting into the details, I will say I convinced Drik that it was better for us to work together, that if we fought, the only result would be that many of us would die and the survivors would be stuck with a ship they couldn't move, and that we would share (a difficult concept to get across to a kobold, it turns out) both the rowing and the food (both good and bad) with them. I appealed to Drik's vanity, implying that he would get better food and other rewards as the leader of the creatures. After a lengthy discussion with his fellows, he stated they would sleep on it and talk in the morning. We agreed. Without seeming unduly arrogant, I must say that I thought I handled it quite well, an opinion shared by Katalla, who complimented me on my diplomacy (not something I have thought myself to be skilled at - perhaps I am better at interacting with creatures than other humans). She had also proven useful in the talks, backing up my words with her own - perhaps there is more to this simple potter than meets the eye.

Aesa called us down to the cargo hold, where she had identified all the available food, as well as three locked chests. Figuring that we should gather any available resources, Ravenna (confirming my suspicions) made short work of the locks on the chest. Once unlocked, she was able to open one, which contained what seemed like a small fortune in silver coins, but the other two, I determined, were sealed with arcane power, beyond my ability to remove. One (bearing an arcane mark which I determined to be Kreon's) was even magically strengthened, to prevent forcible entry. The other was not, and upon hearing this, Aesa disappeared upstairs, returning with the mace we had taken from the bugbear. Before I could stop her, she smashed the mace into the side of the chest. The sound of shattering glass from within the chest confirmed my worst fears - when a second blow broke open the chest, we were greeted by the sight of several broken glass flasks, with their colorful contents congealing on the bottom of the chest. Luckily, two were spared, labeled water walking and water breathing - in our current circumstances, a fortiuitous find. I shook my head sadly at the loss of whatever had been in the other bottles. The chest also contained a large amount of gold - it appears we are for now quite rich, although unless we can eat them or pay the oars to row themselves, coins are not currently very useful. I also suspect the Order will want their money back if we ever find our way to their fortress.

We took food (the good food, as the kobolds would put it) from the supplies, as well as a fishing net which seemed likely to be useful, and gave the kobolds some of the food as a gesture of goodwill. Using the padlock that Ravenna took of one of the chests to seal the cargo holds, we returned to the top deck, where Ard and Enzo had been keeping watch. After a short meal, we have set watches and are preparing to rest. I hope the kobolds do not attack us in our sleep.

Postscript: I have just awakened for my watch. It has been an exhausting day, and I am concerned for our situation. With no idea where Kreon was taking us and being dependent on the kobolds (who seem as likely to eat us as help us) to go anywhere at all, I think we are in dire straits. None of us know anything of this realm other than that which Kreon told us - the most knowledgeable member of our group in that respect is the boy Whedan, which does not fill me with hope. Losing Kreon was a serious blow, even if (as it appears from the evidence) he gave his life to save ours.

On the other hand, the actions of my shipmates today show them to be not without skills of their own. Whether by luck or design, we seem to be a group equipped to handle a variety of situations, perhaps even one as perilous as this one surely is. Regardless, I am dependent on them, as they are on me, despite whatever feelings I may have about them personally.

Assuming we can manage the kobolds, one big question remains: Where do we go next? Perhaps an answer will present itself after we have rested.

Thanks for the kind comments. This first block of entries was extremely long, mainly because everything before day 4 was my retelling of the campaign background that Monte gave us - the playing session itself starts with day 4.

I actually took few notes (they say things like "bugbear fight" and "flashes at night"), but I have a particularly good memory, and usually just a note or two can trigger a lot of detailed memories, as long as I don't wait too long to do the write-up. (That's how I got through college exams as well.)

Matt

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Now I'm curious about the other adventurers (are they all human?)

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Yes, all human - thank you for reminding me that I left that out of my description of them. I will have to go back and edit the entry to make that clear.

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and where this will all go

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You and me both. Next session is next Sunday, then every two weeks after that.